SHARK (Submarine Hold at RisK) UUV

Bluefin Robotics Photo

Submarine Hold at RisK (SHARK) is a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)-sponsored unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV). SHARK was developed by a team led by Applied Physical Sciences and based on a Bluefin Robotics autonomous vehicle. SHARK carries an active sonar system designed to track submarines after initial detections have been made using passive sonar or other sensors. SHARK is a component of DARPA's Distributed Agile Submarine Hunting (DASH) program. In February 2013 SHARK conducted six days of operational testing in the Atlantic including two 4,450-meter dives totaling 11 hours.

DARPA awarded a Phase III contract in March 2013 and will fund the full integration of the deep-sea sonar into SHARK, and the production of a second system with sonar to support networked operations with other DASH program components.